as they were, and skillful with weapons, they went about where they liked and did as they pleased, approaching the inevitable time when they would cr… - Louis L'Amour

It is my privilege. It is so written.

"Somebody comin'," he said softly. "Five or six, maybe." His words were spoken over an empty fire, for each of us vanished ghostlike into the surrounding darkness. I, fortunately, had the presence of mind to retain my coffee. With the Ferguson rifle in my right hand, I drank coffee from the cup in my left.

Considering it, he realized that somehow he never worried about Miriam, and that was wrong. He did not worry about her because she seemed so self-sufficient, so strong. She was like their mother had been, only more so, much more so. But he felt it was wrong to think of a girl that way…It was wrong for any man to consider a girl self-sufficient, for men wanted to do something for a woman and when there was nothing they could do, there was no place for love.

Love was, he suspected, much a matter of service. One loved and was loved, as one needed and was needed. Or so it seemed to him.